Chinese New Year is one of the most celebrated days among Chinese people all over the world. It has become the occasion for family members to get together and gifting items to make the day memorable in all possible ways. It is a get time for luxury gift items sellers as gifting such products is a common practice. Apart from the luxury items, another common practice is gifting cash. However, with the technological progression, people are opting for gifting money through digital means. When it comes to buying gifting, Chinese people use WeChat mini-programs where the luxury brands are selling products directly. Similarly, WeChat Pay is being used for gifting money to one another.
Tradition Of Gifting Cash –
The tradition of gifting cash in envelopes during Chinese New Year is a century old practice. However, in those days, hard money was exchanged in those envelopes rather than gift cards and vouchers. These envelopes are called “Red Packets” or “Hong Bao” in Mandarin. These Red Packets reflect the love of near and dear ones for each other, and it is considered to be as valuable as gifting products. It is more effective as the receiver of the gift in the form of cash can utilize the money to buy the products that they like and find useful.
WeChat Renewing The Old Practice –
With the passage of time, this tradition of gifting and exchanging cash packets has diminished to a greater extent. However, WeChat is bringing back this practice through its digital platform for cashless payment. They have introduced the WeChat Red Envelope feature through which people can transfer cash to their loved ones virtually. Almost all Chinese people with smartphones have WeChat as it is one of the most popular and complete Chinese apps. WeChat and WeChat Pay are interlinked, and WeChat started this WeChat Red Packets service back in 2014.
Even since then the service is getting a lot of traction. Millions of users are using it, and during the New Year day, the usage of WeChat Red Packets reaches the peak. Therefore, it is safe to say the WeChat Red Envelope has revived the centuries-old Lunar New Year tradition among the new generation of Chinese people. Following the success of the service, WeChat has introduced various new features.
WeChat Red Packets –
There are different ways of sending Red packets through WeChat Pay. The red packets can be sent directly to any individuals as well as in a group. There is a lot of exciting possibilities when you send for a group like the lucky draw of divided shares. Therefore, it is also a great way of donating apart from delivering good wishes and greeting in Chinese culture. According to the official data, there are nearly 3.5 billion yuan transferred through Red Packets of different companies across the world on the Lunar New Year.
Besides, many companies give out bonus and greetings by gifting their employees and neighbors with Red Envelope. It helps to keep up employee satisfaction as well as the society around which the companies are operating. In fact, of all the Red Packets transferred, 68% of the transaction happened through digital platforms. Out of the digital platform, WeChat is the most preferred one.
To be precise, during 2018 Lunar New Year, 768 million people sent digital red packets. Out the pockets, 8.88 RMB is the most sent money as the numbers represent luck in China. The digital red packet service is also available on Alipay as well as QQ. Sends can also put animated stickers with the digital packets to make it more fun and bring an instant smile on the face of the receivers.
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